A Celebration of Architecture

Here’s a sneak preview of New Hampshire and Vermont architects’ best residential work.

By Bonnie Kastel

In late January, the design community in New Hampshire comes together to recognize the best recent work produced in the state.

The New Hampshire chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ (AIANH’s) annual Excellence in Architecture Design Awards Program is marking its thirty-third year of honoring outstanding architecture. The awards program is juried by out-of-state architects who select the winning projects based on overall design excellence, including aesthetics, clarity, creativity, appropriate functionality, sustainability, building performance and appropriateness with regard to the client’s vision. AIANH member architects are eligible to submit projects anywhere in the world, while out-of-state member architects can submit projects that are located in New Hampshire.

This year, twelve residential projects were submitted. Winners are scheduled to be announced at the AIANH Awards Banquet on January 20 at the Manchester Country Club and published in the March issue of New Hampshire Home. Award winners will also be featured in the annual Awards Book, published by the AIANH chapter, and posted on the AIANH website, www.aianh.org.

In the meantime, submissions are posted online at www.aianh.org and viewers can cast a ballot as part of the People’s Choice award program. After the banquet, all submissions will be part of a statewide traveling exhibition.

This Shingle-Style home is located at the edge of the Dartmouth College campus and has views into Vermont through a screen of mature trees. The design, massing and detailing allow the house to fit into the context of early-twentieth-century buildings and break down the scale of the structure. The garage doors and drive court are hidden behind the ell to minimize the impact of cars. The columned porch is a welcoming gesture to neighbors and a response to the pedestrian character of the neighborhood. The primary rooms are organized on an east/west axis that leads from public to private rooms and to outdoor spaces that overlook the river. These spaces flow together in an open plan where south-facing windows maximize solar gain and sunlight as well as provide views into the gardens.

For this property—located in a sheltered cove with a sloping lawn to the water and mature trees affording views into the cove—the clients wanted to maintain the natural privacy, while connecting to the outdoors with a comfortable patio for family and friends, stone walls, as well as intimate plantings and gardens. The design is a balance of an exterior that addresses the context of the New Hampshire Lakes Region, and an interior with a calm and sophisticated feel. Both the exterior and interior have a consistent fit and finish that contribute to the peaceful and enjoyable qualities of this lake home. The first floor incorporates ten-foot ceilings with tall windows and transoms to allow ample light into the house on its northern and lake-view facade. For accessibility during retirement, the master suite and laundry are on the first floor. The second floor includes guest bedrooms, a family room and office above the garage.

This newly constructed cottage was built within the confines of a previously razed camp, which was located within close proximity to the water’s edge on a lake in southern Maine. The architectural detailing of the home replicates the historic architectural elements found in turn-of-the century cottages of the region. The exterior of the house is a playful combination of sage green metal hip and gable roofs to blend into the site’s forest setting. The stone chimney grows out of the fieldstone-veneered foundation and becomes a focal point for the living room along with the panoramic view seen through the picture windows. The cottage’s interior is intentionally simple, with the living room, kitchen and dining room becoming contiguous spaces with fir beamed ceilings and cabinets left with a natural wood finish.

This home’s meticulous renovation restored the exterior and breathed new life into the interior. Dark, small interior spaces were re-imagined to accommodate a brighter, active lifestyle with frequent gatherings. The homeowners can now accommodate overnight visitors, and created space allows flow for frequent entertaining. The main hall was restored with traditional detailing and bright colors. The existing kitchen was relocated to the front of the house to create connectivity between bustling kitchen activity and the front porch with street views. Upstairs spaces were modernized and enlivened to accommodate visiting family members and friends of various age groups. The home’s exterior shingles were given a wash of a unique, bright color unlike any other in the neighborhood.

After years of living on the active and noisy waterway of the Piscataqua River, the clients wanted their new home to be a quiet, relaxing retreat from their thriving retail business. The home is nestled within a secluded wooded lot, taking advantage of the existing site features and natural topography to make the home and site feel as one. An open-concept floor plan, sloped ceilings, abundant natural light and walls of glass provide the spatial quality the clients desired. Exposed structural and building materials, industrial in feel, define the character as well as provide the ornamentation of the interior spaces and backdrop for the clients’ art collection. The clients wanted to minimize the use of fossil fuels by incorporating a highly insulated building envelope as well as integrating geothermal and solar building components, while maintaining an aesthetically intriguing design.

The Oyster River TechBuilt is a modest house originally constructed from a kit designed by post-war architect Karl Koch. The challenges were to accommodate twenty-first-century living while preserving the mid-century aesthetic, maximize connection to the exterior and create a high-performance thermal envelope. The new design extended the original footprint and roofline to accommodate more living space, opened the plan of the first floor as well as added a new entrance and screened porch. Designed with the goal of achieving Energy Star certification, energy-efficient features include new continuous roof and wall insulation; radiant heat; triple-glazed windows; and use of natural ventilation. The original cedar shakes and interior clapboard finishes were preserved and restored. The new contemporary kitchen takes its cues from the TechBuilt language. The owners’ vision, the architects’ creative interpretations of the aesthetic intent and the builders’ craftsmanship exemplify commitment to the high standard of the original design.

Inspiration for this project stemmed from a shared interest in the history of Lake Sunapee and its architecture from the grand hotel era to the beginning of the cottage era in the 1920s. Local architect Prentice Sanger designed many such cottages and the Lake Sunapee Yacht Club. The heavy amounts of stone with integrated brick used in conjunction with other vernacular lakefront architectural precedents give this home’s design a unique aesthetic with strong historic roots and pay respect to many of Sanger’s lost works in the region. The landscape ties home and site seamlessly while addressing the needs of construction near sensitive lakefront resources. The entry court uses modern construction techniques to capture stormwater while maintaining an aesthetic true to the character of the home. Intimate outdoor spaces draw inspiration from the architecture and materials of the home, maximizing the long, southerly views toward Mount Sunapee.

Mid-Century Modern Remodel

The goal of this project was to bring a mid-century modern house into the twenty-first century as well as provide a comfortable and inviting home for an emptynester couple. The existing balcony was extended to provide a cozy reading nook, and the hard edges were softened with custom stainless-steel stanchions and a curved glass guardrail that extend to the reconstructed stair. A peaked ceiling and small return walls transformed the existing dining area into a more intimate and inviting space. A total kitchen remodel was implemented and features an island countertop of black granite and a “swoosh” of Tineo (Indian Applewood), which is also used at the pass-through to the living space and display shelf in the entry. Glare and solar heat gain from the west-facing window wall are controlled by a series of motorized roller shades. With only 5 percent transparency, distant views can still be seen when the shades are deployed.

Building a lakefront home inherently addresses one of the principles of sustainable design: connecting with nature. The home is designed to maximize multiuse spaces, creating a compact and efficient design, while providing views through the home on approach, encouraging both visual and physical movement toward the lake. Goals such as minimizing the footprint, reducing site impact, crafting spaces to draw one outdoors and reducing dependence on fossil fuels logically follow this principle. A superior envelope, a high-efficiency geothermal heat pump, on-demand hot water heaters, LED lighting, stormwater management, a charging station for the homeowner’s electric car and rooftop photovoltaic panels are examples of addressing these goals. The result is a project that reduces negative impacts on the environment as well as promotes the health, wellness and enjoyment of nature for this family and future generations.

Hawkins Pond Residence

This Craftsman-style home is tucked into the raised, south-facing corner of an existing meadow on what was once a small farm with sheltering trees on three sides and sweeping mountain views. A great effort was made to cut as few trees as possible during the course of the project, as the privacy they provide allowed the owners to forgo window treatments and enjoy panoramic splendor through large, floor-to-ceiling window walls, glass doors and a window-lined eating nook. The home opens to the out-of-doors with a screened porch at the west, a wide slate patio spanning its south side and an outdoor shower. Carpentry details include custom, cherry kitchen cabinets; a hand-hewn fireplace mantel; an exterior banded with 1-inch-by-10-inch cedar clapboards mitered for a slight flare; and decorative details at the stair and exterior rafters. The home features granite steps and terrace wall lengths built from the original farmhouse foundation stones.

The project was an extensive remodel and addition to an existing house located on a narrow point of land on a lake in New Hampshire. The site constraints were challenging, and took some finesse to fit a building containing 5,330 square feet of livable space and an attached two-car garage. To take advantage of the views, a large amount of glass was used to capture the nearly 330-degree panorama. The clients were looking for a home with a high level of energy efficiency and all the modern amenities. The kitchen is well appointed with culinary equipment along with a pass-through window to the sunroom. The clients used a wood carver to create the mantels of both fireplaces. The five-piece bath connected to the master bedroom has a steam shower and an air massage tub. The building was designed to look smaller than it actually is and blend in to its surroundings as much as possible, while taking advantage of its exceptional location.

Located on the banks of the Connecticut River, this four-bedroom home was designed to capture the character of a New England farmhouse, and sited to preserve as much farmland as possible while providing views up and down the river from the principal rooms. The house and barn define an outdoor room that frames a visitor’s view across the river to Vermont. The barn contains a studio apartment, office, workshop, boat room and equipment storage. The rooms in the house are modest in scale and the layout is informal. The energy performance of the house approaches net zero.

When they bought a spectacular property in Bow that includes an early nineteenth-century house, a barn and a blacksmith shop, Mike and Nancy Sampo were determined to make sustainability key in their preservation efforts.